Fourth Grader Suspended Over 'Kick Me' Sign Prank

Feb. 18, 2011 — -- The age old prank of sticking a "kick me" sign to a classmate's back has landed one fourth grader in serious trouble at a New York City elementary school.

A 9-year-old boy was suspended for two days for sticking a post-it note on another student's back with the words "kick me" scribbled on it. The mother of the suspended student is reportedly upset that her son's joke led to punishment, the New York Post reported.

The suspension comes amid a national debate over what constitutes bullying and when efforts to block bullying have gone too far. The "kick me" punishment has divided experts on whether the school went too far.

The incident happened at P.S. 158 in Manhattan in late January.

"That's been kind of a time honored sign through the years done by generations of students," said Dr. Ronald D. Stephens from the National School Safety Center.

Still, Stephens cautioned that the prank, even if done in jest, could disrupt a classroom.

"You set someone up in the school [with the sign] and it's an invitation for trouble... It falls in the category of bullying and intimidation and generally those things aren't permitted or sanctioned…it's one of those legitimate concerns especially if it could potentially lead to some form of harm or injury," Stephens said.

Anti-bullying expert Barbara Coloroso disagrees with the school's reaction.

Coloroso said that the "kick me" sign is definitely a form of bullying, but that she would have disciplined the student differently.

"It's mean, but suspension doesn't make sense," Coloroso, author of "The Bully, The Bullied and the Bystander," said. "Suspension doesn't give the kid ownership of what they've done or give them a way to work through it."

Not suspending the student doesn't mean agreeing with the old adage that "boys will be boys" or "girls will be mean," Coloroso said.

"I would go up to the kid and say, 'No more, not here, never. That was mean and cruel and this is a safe harbor for every kid. I want to you to take that sticker off the kid right now,'" she said. "Other kids get the message that this is not going to be tolerated in this class…it also sends a message to the bullied student that what he [the bully] did to you is mean and cruel and you don't have to take this."

Coloroso said suspension does nothing to help the classroom dynamic.